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Well ... last time I chatted (in a very roundabout obtuse way) about Martial Arts films (well mostly). I'll probably do the same thing this time, but we'll find out.

Recently I've been watching "Killer Bean 2: The Party" repeatedly. I'm quite impressed the animation and the story (funny, smooth, kickin'). The short is made by none other than Jeff Lew. Bit of background on Jeff Lew; he is working on Matrix 2 and he choreographed the Kung Fu cow scene in Kung Pow. I highly anticipate his work.

Of course, I assume that you've heard of Matrix 2. Currently titled as The Matrix Reloaded and slated for release in 2003, it's the much anticipated sequel to The Matrix. Keanu Reeves will probably still star in it (unfortunately). Of course, the one person I'm looking forward to seeing in it is Hugo Weaving (aka Agent Smith). He's the c00l head guy, quite exciting and what not.

Another movie that Hugo plays an active part in is Fellowship of the Ring. He starred as Lord Elrond the Elf King. Ok yeah, that movie kicksaurs. I understand that many have not seen it so I'll not say much except: WHY HAVE YOU NOT SEEN IT YET? The good people at Weta Digital (in New Zealand) made many of the special effects (and they (the effects) are sw3333t). They actually made a whole battle system to simulate the battles and made them AI and whatnot (sorry for being vague but you have to see it to understand it).

Gandalf the Grey was played by Ian McKellen who has played many high profile roles in many movies. I'll go into them later this term but for now all you need to know is that he played Magneto in X-Men (he'll also play Magneto in X-Men 2).

X-Men, classic science-fiction come to life. X-Men is an eclectic blend of imagination and special effects combined to test the senses with brilliant choreography of action and plot. Aside from that it's a mixing pot of Bond femmes and fake Bond femmes. You will remember Rebecca Romijn-Stamos from Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me. As far as I know she won't be staring in Goldmember (the Austin Powers moving coming out this summer; watch the trailer if you get a chance, shibby). But moving on, Famke Janssen was also a Bond Femme (Goldfinger) and is my favourite char (Dr. Jean Grey) in the X-Men series (aside from Wolverine, Magneto and Gambit), but she ranks right up there, especially when it's Famke Janssen.

Yes, Wolverine is my favourite, metal skeleton, shibby. Hugh Jackman played Wolverine and he did a decent job. His acting seems slightly like Keanu Reeves but he seems to have a certain air about him which makes it all ok. Although his acting in Swordfish was quite good the one thing that ruined the movie was Halle Berry's nude scene. What was the deal with that? You don't put a fscking nude scene in it just to get horny teenage boys to show up to watch it. It was completely unnecessary, there was no point to it (zing). Geez, you can get better quality on the net, it was like 1992 8 bit GIF quality. The other problem was that I didn't have that scene in my rip.

Of course, Halle Berry stared as Storm in X-Men but you know, Dr. Grey and Mystique are s00000 much better. I guess the one redeeming quality (the other two don't count (zing)) is that she's a Bond Femme in the upcoming Bond 20 film. Release date is November 25^th or so and am I looking forward to it. Now you may want to skip to the next paragraph if you don't want to know how the beginning starts. Ready? Well, it starts with a Hovercraft race in Korea and moves to Hong Kong and continues (not the hovercraft chase but the chase in general) into Europe. Rick Yune from The Fast and The Furious is the evil North Korean General ... for a little while. You see, the General has a face altering device, so the rest of the time it's another d00d playing him. I'll leave that till later this term.

Of course, the newest Bond Femme in this movie is Rosamund Pike (a non-frigid British femme). She's also supposed to be pretty key and will perhaps fight Bond. She hasn't been in a movie previously, so this is a very very nice intro to her. She's acted in a few minis, notably Love in a Cold Climate. In a remake of the 80's version she takes on a the major role of Fanny. Fanny is one of 3 upper class English woman looking to enter society with a good husband. Of course, they're looking for love on their own. The films start in the 1930s then moves through the next few decades tracing the lives of Fanny, Polly, and Linda. Of course, no movie is complete without a book and this has one.

Also in this film (the one with Rosamund Pike) is a Lord Merlin, played by John Wood the First. Guess what film he was in? WARGAMES. Yippeeeee ... a riveting experience of what hacking is considered to be but really isn't. It captured the fears of a generation into a film that wasn't all that I was expecting. Yes it had a few exciting parts but there wasn't anything memorable.

A much better film that John Wood the First is in is Chocolat. Oscar nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Music (Original Score), Best Picture, Best Writing/Screenplay on already existing material. Many nominations, no Oscars (side notice: Judi Dench as nominated for Best Supporting Actress and she plays M in James Bond). Also in Chocolat is Carrie-Anne Moss, aka Trinity in Matrix 3 and guess who's on that technical team? Jeff Lew.

Well, a nice roundabout visitin a lot of major sites and sounds, but please remember to visit www.jefflew.com and watch Killer Bean 2. He's also making Killer Bean 3 which will be a remake of his Killer Bean 1 (1996, low res, funny). So look out for dat one.

Hope you've enjoyed this little article, next time I'll try to make more sense, but it'll probably make the same amount of sense. Till l8r.

Tushar
Quack